1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle approach informing device configured to inform pedestrians outside a vehicle that the vehicle is approaching.
2. Related Art
Conventional vehicles are primarily a gasoline-powered vehicle which runs using an engine as a drive source, and so a pedestrian can identify the presence of a vehicle by the engine sound generated by the vehicle when the vehicle is approaching from the rear or a blind spot of the pedestrian. However, no engine sound is generated by vehicles such as an electric vehicle and a hybrid vehicle which run using an electric motor as a drive source, and it is difficult for a pedestrian to identify the presence of such a vehicle by the sound of the vehicle when the vehicle is approaching the pedestrian.
Thus, vehicles equipped with an informing device have been proposed, the informing device being configured to output sound for informing people outside the vehicle such as pedestrians that the vehicle is approaching. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-40318 discloses a vehicle approach informing device configured to output simulated sound of tire noise from a speaker provided at the front end of a vehicle when the vehicle is running at a speed lower than or equal to a predetermined vehicle speed, the simulated sound having the same tone as that of the actual tire noise.
However, sound for informing pedestrians of the approach of a vehicle may be an annoying noise to the surroundings. For example, vehicles often run at a low speed in an area near the residence thereof, thus the sound for informing pedestrians of vehicle approach is constantly emitted. Thus, frequently emitted sound for informing of vehicle approach may be an annoying noise which is a nuisance to the neighbors. On the other hand, however, when the sound for informing of vehicle approach is designed to be turned off by a driver at will, the driver may continue to drive the vehicle without being aware that the informing sound has been turned off, and thus this design is not desirable.